Menu holder and magnetic support means therefor



March 4, 1958 A. RQ MELLoR ET A1. 2,825,160

MENU HOLDER AND MAGNETIC SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 17, `1956 v ssheets-sheet 1 36 43 *38 45 47 INVENTORS '7"[7- i RMQZZW ATTORNEY March4, 1958 A. R. MELLOR ET Al. 2,825,160

MENU HOLDER AND MAGNETIC SUPPORT MEANS THEREEOR Filed Aug. 17, 195e 3sheets-sheet 2 5a fax.

.THM @NN t I? -7 mvENToRs HMZZQ?" Nfllrec March 4, 1958 A, R, MELLOR ALMENU HOLDER AND MAGNETIC SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 17, 1956 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Jg.. /Z

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21111:: I :lll- TIL INVENTORS .Me lo 7 ZZrecZ United States Patent OMENU HOLDER AND MAGNETIC SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR Adrien R. Mellor andNoah A. Allred, Loma Linda, Calif.

Application August 17,1956, Serial No. 604,648

Y1 Claim. (Cl. 40-10) This invention relates to a menu and a menu holderincluding magnetic means for retaining the menu in position on theholder and has for its primary object to provide a structure whereby amenu can be readily replaced upon a menu holder and will retain itsposition thereon until the menu is again grasped and removed, by aslight pull, from the holder. Y

Considerable difliculty is encountered by customers not familiar withthe construction of menu holders now in use, in replacing a menu in aholder and as a consequence menus frequently fall upon the door or areleft lying upon a table or counter andare knocked to the floor where themenus are frequently stepped upon be fore being picked up by a patron ora waitress.

. Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present inventiontofprovide a menu and menu holder wherein the menu canbe readily setupon a readily visible conveniently positioned shelf of the holder andwhen thus applied will be magnetically held to the holder until forciblyremoved therefrom.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating presently preferred embodiments thereof,'andwherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing the menu holder mountedupon .a counter or table with a menu magnetically held applied thereto;

Figure-2 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a planeas indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure- 3 .is a horizontal sectionalview, taken substantially alongapla-neas indicatedby the line 3-'3 of Figure 1;

Figures 4 and S are enlarged horizontal `sectional views takensubstantially-along :planes as indicated by the lines 4 4 yand 5-5,respectively, of-Figure 1;

Figure 6- is a fragmentary `front elevational view of a part oftheholder-shown removed-.from a counter or table;

-Figure 7 is 4an Ienlarged longitudinal sectional view through a menu,:taken .substantially along a plane astindicatedbyetheline 7-7 of Figure1;

Figure -8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view `of theupper portion of the holder,''taken substantiallyfalong av planecorresponding V.to the plane of' Figure 2;

Figure 9 is Ya front Velevational view o'f'a slightly modified form ofthe menu holder; y

Figure l is 1an elevational view, partly vin section, of anotherform'offrnenu forY usefwithftheholders of Figures l `to 9; l

`Figure 11 is a cross sectional view thereof,takensublstantial'ly'alo'nga plne as 'indicated bythe line 1:1--11 ofFigure 1'0.; 5

v,Figure 121s alongitudinalsectionalview thereof,'taken suhstantialjlylga`plane as indicated `byj the line112'-12 of Figure 1"0"arid"'sliw'ingIa'fragment of only one of the leaves of the menu;

2,825,160 Patented Mar. 4, 1958 ICC Figure 13 is an elevational view ofanother form of menu;

Figure 14 is a fragmentary cross sectional view thereof, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 14-14 of Figure 13,and

Figure l5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a part of themenu, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 15-15of Figure 13.

Referring more specically to the drawings and first with reference toFigures l to 8, the menu holder or support in its entirety is designatedgenerally 17 and a menu 18 of special construction is provided intendedto be supported by and upon the holder 17.

The holder or support 17 includes a pair of spaced uprights or standards19 each preferably constituting'a substantially rigid metal bar. Thebars 19 are connected to one another in spaced apart substantiallyparallel relation by a plurality, preferably three metal strips 20, 21and 22 which extend across and which have spaced portions secured tocomplementary parts 23 of the bars or standards 19. The two lower strips20 and 21 are substantially longer than the upper strip 22 and have ends32 which are curved forwardly or away from the standards 19, the stripsbeing secured to front sides of the standard portions 23 and in spacedrelation to one another. The upper strip '22 is substantially straightfrom end-to7 end thereof and has end yportions extending beyond thestandard portions 23. Said portions 23 constitute forwardly olsetportions of the standards 19 which include corresponding lower endportions 24 and upper end portions 25. The portions 24 and V,25 of eachstandard 19 are disposed substantially in alignment and said upperportie-ns 25 are substantially longer than the lower portions 24. Theadjacent ends of the portions 24 and 25 are connected to the lower andupper ends of the forwardly offset standard portions 23 by portions 26and 27, respectively, of said standards. The portions 26,and 27 of eachstandard 19 are disposed substantially parallel to one another and atsubstantially right angles to the portions 23, 24 and 25. The lowerportion 26 den ines a downwardly facing shoulder which is adapted torest upon a portion of a ltop surface of a counter er table 28. 'Theportion 27 of each standard forms an upwardly facing shelf portion, aswill hereinafter be described. The lower end portions 2.4 of thestandards 19 are adapted to bear against a vert-ical Wall or edge 2,9 ofthe counter or table and to be clamped thereagainst by strap fastenings30 having end portions secured 'to the wall or edge 29 by fastenings 31and ,outwardly offset intermediate portions through which the standardportions 24 extend and by which the standard portions are clampedagainst the wall o r edge 29. The strips 20, v2,1 and 22 combine ytoform a fence, as is conventional, for holding vdining accessories suchas napkin, sugar and condiment containers, not shown. I i

The holder or support 17 also includes .an kupper section 33 comprisingspaced elongated sleeves 3,4 which are rigidly connected together attheir upper ends by a top bar which'extends therebetween ,and whichvvis* secured at ,its ends yto upper vportions of the sleeves34. Thesleeves 34 are disposed substantial'lyparallel `and coplanar .to oneanother and are each of rectangular cross section, `as seen in Figure 5.Each .sleeve 34 has a slot or opening 36 in the rear wall thereof Ywhichextends kfrom end-to-'end ,of the sleeve. 'The sleeves 34 slidably ortelescopically engage the supper standardportions 25 and extend upwardlytherefrom. Ascrew 37 is threaded lforwardly through Lthe upperipart ofeach standard `portion v25 and the heads of the screws are accommodatedin the slots '36 ofthe sleeves 34. The screws 37 are advanced forwardlythrough the standard portions 25 and against the inner sides of thefront walls of the sleeves 34 for clamping said sleeves in adjusted`positionston the standard portions for positioning the top bar 35 atany desired level above the shelf 27.`

As best seen in Figure 4, the top bar 35, intermediate of its ends, isprovided with spaced openings 3S. A socket 39, having an open front sideprovided with outturned flanges 40, is disposed against the rear side ofthe top bar 35 over the openings 38 and is secured thereto by fastenings41 which extend through the flanges 40. A permanent magnet 42 is mountedin the socket 39 and the two legs 43, forming the poles of said magnet,extend outwardly of the socket 39 through the openings 38 and straddle astrip 44 of the top bar 35, which separates the openings 38. The strip44 thus retains the magnet 42 seated in the socket 39, as clearlyillustrated in Figure 4.

The menu 18 as illustrated constitutes a folder and includes anelongated sheet which is folded intermediate of its ends along a foldline 45 to provide the two leaves 46 of the menu or folder 18, as isconventional. strips 47 are folded lengthwise into channel shape formand are clamped to the longitudinal edges 48 of the leaves 46. A stripof metal 49 `is disposed in the fold 45 between portions of the leaves46 of the menu 18 and extends substantially from end-to-end thereof.Said metal strip 49, as best seen in Figure 7, has struck ont tongues 50which extend through one of the leaves 46 and which are then bentoutwardly so as to be disposed `substantially parallel to the strip 49for clamping portions of said leaf 46 to the strip 49 to secure saidstrip immovably in the menu 18. The strips 47 and 49 form magneticelements which are capable of receiving and retaining a magnetic chargeand which are thus capable of being attracted and held by the magnet 42.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the folded edge 45 of themenu 18 can be placed upon the shelf 27, as illustrated in Figures l and2, and with the upper holder section 33 properly adjusted, the magneticelements 47 will be attracted and held by the magnet 42 to retain themenu on the holder 17, as illustrated. It will also be apparent that themenu can be readily grasped and removed from the holder. Likewise, ifdesired, the edges of the leaves 46 `engaged by the magnetic elements 47may be placed upon the shelf 27 and the folded edge 45 of the menu 18can then be positioned so that the mag-v netic clement 49 will beattracted to and held by the magnet 42.

Figure 9 illustrates a slightly modied form of the holder and which isdesignated generally 51. The holder 51 differs from the holder 17 inthat it is not provided with a slidably mounted upper section, such asthe section 33. lather, a wide top bar or strip 52 extends between andis secured to the upper portions 53 of the holder standards. The bar orstrip 52 extends downwardly from the upper endsof the standard portions53 a substantial distance and 1s provided intermediate of its ends withtwo elongated openings 54 each of which extends from adjacent the topedge to adjacent the bottom edge of the cross member 52. A socket member55 is secured by fastenings 56 to the rear side of the cross member 52to provide a support for a magnet the two pole forming legs 57 of whichextend outwardly through and lit snugly in the opemngs 54. The socket`55 is of the same construction as the socket 39 and differs therefromonly in that it is of substantially greater depth vertically. The magnetportlons 57 are of sulicient vertical length so that a menu such as themenu 18 may be held thereby in the same manner that the menu 18 is heldby the holder 17, as previously described. The vertical elongation ofthe magnet portions 57 permit menus of different widths to be supportedon the holder shelf 58 and ma etcall held by the magnet 57. l gn' yFigures 10, 11 and 12 illustrate a modified form of menu, designatedgenerallyk 59, comprising individual leaves 60 the longitudinal and endedges of which are secured in a binding 61,. Said binding 61 has a common connecting portion 62, as seen in Figure 11, extending along onelongitudinal edge of the menu 59 and forming a hinge for the menu leaves60. The binding 61 when secured to the edge portions of the leaves 60 isof tubular construction, and elongated strand-like magnetic elements 63,having the property of being attracted and held by a magnet, arecontained in the portions of the binding 61 which extend along thelongitudinal edges of the leaves 60, which are located remote from thehinge 62. The hinged edge 62 of the menu 59 is adapted to be rested uponthe shelf 27 of the holder 17 or the shelf 58 of the holder 51 so thatthe magnetic elements 63 will be attracted and held by the magnetportions 43 or 57, respectively.

Figures 13, 14 and l5 illustrate a third form of menu, designatedgenerally 14, having two leaves 65. Complementary longitudinal edges ofthe menu leaves 65 are clamped in a binding 66 a portion 67 of whichforms a hinge for the menu leaves 65. The binding 66 providescorresponding longitudinally extending chambers 68 each of which isadapted to contain an elongated strip 69 forming a bar magnet. The otherlongitudinal edges of the leaves 65 arel clamped in `folded bindingstrips 70 in a chamber 71 of each of which is also contained a barmagnet 69. The menu 64 may be utilized with a conventional metal menuholder formed of a material capable of being attracted by a magnet orwith the holders 17 or 51, with the magnets thereof omitted. Either thebinding 66 or the 'bindings 70 may be rested upon the shelf of the menuholder and if the shelf constitutes a magnetic element the menu will beheld attached to the shelf by the magnets 69 contained in said binding.The other pair of magnets 69 will magnetically connect the otherlongitudinal edge portion of the menu 64 to the holder portion whichextends upstanding from thc shelf on which the menu rests. The magnets69 of the two longitudinal edges of the menu 64 may also be employed forretaining the menu positioned'against menu holders which are notprovided with a menu supporting shelf but which do have parts formed ofa material capable of being attracted by a magnet and against which thebindings 66 and 70 may be positioned.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto without departing from the function or scope of the inventionashereinafter defined by the appended claim.

We claim as our invention:

A folder, folder support and magnetic means for attaching the folder tothe support including a magnet carried by the support and armaturescarried by the folder, said folder including two leaves connected by afolded edge and having complementary free edges spaced substantiallyequal distances from said fold edge, said armatures carried by thefolder `being independent and connected to said free edges of the leavesand when said folder is in a folded condition being held together and tosaid magnet carried by the support by magnetic attraction for mountingthe folder on the support and for retaining the folder in a closedposition.

Hoofer -..-u May 25, 1954l

